A killer is on the loose after gunning down two people in a busy Walmart parking lot early on Sunday evening.

Police raced to the location after reports of a shooting outside the store in South Anchorage, Alaska, just after 5:10 p.m. and found the bodies of a man and a woman who had both been shot.

Sunday’s incident, which unfolded on the Old Seward Highway at 88th Avenue just south of the Dimond Center mall, prompted a major response with several police units descending on the area as the store was locked down. Investigators found a firearm at the scene, and reports from local media state that officers are still searching for the suspect.

Police tape seals off a crime scene in this archive image taken in Monterey Park, California, back in January. Police are said to be hunting for a killer after two people were shot dead outside a Walmart in Anchorage, Alaska, at the weekend.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

Sean Keating, a crime scene team leader, of Anchorage Police Department (APD), told Anchorage Daily News that police have launched a search for the person responsible for the double homicide. It was lucky more people weren’t hurt because the store is “so populated… and that just happened right outside the main entrance. It’s just insane,” he said.

Details about the incident remain sparse and officers have not yet released a description of the killer or publicly identified the victims. Investigators plan to trawl through the store’s surveillance camera footage to work out what happened.

Newsweek has contacted APD by email seeking further information and comment.

An APD statement released on Sunday night said: “The circumstances of the incident are under investigation, but officers have cause to believe this is an isolated incident. There have been no arrests at this time, and this is an active investigation.”

Officers appealed for anyone with information about the incident to call Police Dispatch at 3-1-1 (select option 1) or 907-786-8900 (select option 0).

This is a developing story.